Ahead of WWDC keynote at 10am this morning, Microsoft refreshed its trio of Office productivity applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with a notable new export option. Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps can now export documents, spreadsheets and presentations in the cross-platform OpenDocument format, making the mobile apps even more suited for business use.
App Store Apps
SnapOldStory reverts your Snapchat apps’ Stories page to the older design
Not long ago, Snapchat released an app update for iOS that changed the way users interact with the Stories section of their app.
Not all users were happy with the changes, and so, an iOS developer in the jailbreak community made a new tweak called SnapOldStory that lets you revert back to the old Stories page style.
What’s on your Home screen: Timothy Reavis
One of the things I see the most every single day is most certainly the Home screen of my iPhone. Because my phone is with me wherever I go, and because it's the device from which I consume the majority of content, the first page of my Home screen is at the forefront of my digital life. Naturally, then, the apps that reside on this page are to be chosen rather carefully to maximize efficiency throughout the day.
Bumpers, Winnie, BitCam and other apps to check out this weekend
It's going to be a long weekend for Apple fans, as we anxiously await the company's big WWDC keynote on Monday. But never fear, we've picked out some great apps and games to help you pass the time. These include a new audio recording and sharing app, an old school camera app, and of course two great new games.
Apple confirms that subscription apps won’t be obliged to offer free functionality
There has been a lot of confusion following Apple's App Store shakeup concerning subscription apps.
First and foremost, does Apple require subscription apps to be functional in some limited way without a subscription, as is the case with apps that use In-App Purchases, or will subscription apps require a subscription to use the app at all? If Apple's comment to MacWorld is to be taken at face value, both could be true.
Save iPhone storage space by slimming down Photos library with Avast Photo Space
iCloud Photo Library has a nifty little feature that lets you store full-resolution photos and videos to iCloud while keeping device-optimized versions on your iPhone, which can save you quite a lot of storage space.
But not everyone uses iCloud Photo Library (do you?) and pays for iCloud storage beyond Apple's measly 5GB free tier (anyone?). That's where Avast's Photo Space for iPhone jumps in. With this app, your Photos library goes on a diet.
Apple’s free app of the week: Drop Flip
Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Drop Flip. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to download the popular physics puzzler for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.
For those unfamiliar with the title, Drop Flip is a delightful game chock-full of silly physics contraptions. Players must move, flip and manipulate obstacles of every shape and size to force the ball into a bucket. It's a lot harder than it sounds.
How to control Apple TV from your iPhone’s Lock screen with CiderTV widget
CiderTV, a software-based alternative for your Apple TV Remote, includes a built-in keyboard and has the ability to control linked Smart TV volume. As of recently, the app comes with a handy widget that makes it possible to control most of the functions of your Apple TV right from the Notification Center. It will save you a lot of time, here's how to get started with CiderTV and set up the widget.
Facebook starts accepting panoramic 360-degree photo uploads
Facebook today announced that it has started accepting 360-degree photo uploads. Panoramic photographs taken with your iOS device can now be uploaded to Facebook through the updated mobile app and are viewable in the web interface and on Facebook for iOS and Android.
Panoramic photos in your News Feed are marked with the compass icon. You can move your iOS device to pan around and even experience them in virtual reality with the Samsung Gear VR.
Camera+ 8: slow shutter, ultra-low ISO, new import options, action extension & more
Camera+ by oddly named developer taptaptap, one of the longest-standing camera applications (and one of the best out there, in my personal opinion), has received a major refresh on the App Store.
Camera+ 8.0 packs in a slew of improvements such as an innovative slow shutter feature, an extended range of effective ISO values, a handy extension for easier sending of photos from the share sheet of other apps and more.
App fatigue is real
I'm positive that this stat does not apply to me, but most smartphone users in the United States downloaded zero apps in a typical month, as per comScore's August 2014 mobile app report.
This is something that indie devs have had to live with for more than two years now and it remains to be seen if Apple's new App Store subscription terms will help solve this worrying problem.
Last month's research from Nomura, which relies on data from app tracker SensorTower, painted a gloomy picture for big name developers, too, as the top 15 app publishers saw downloads drop an average of 20 percent in the United States.
So, is the app boom really over or is this just a temporary blip?
App Store’s Featured section will soon stop showing apps you already have installed
Beyond Search Ads and a bunch of new options for In-App Subscriptions, Apple is making a few subtler changes to how the App Store's storefront apps function in the hope of improving app discovery.
As per SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, who also manages App Stores and Apple's relations with developers, the store's Featured tab will soon filter any apps you already have installed on your device, so that you're only looking at new apps.